Monday, August 20, 2012

Arthur Hollins back to open new Restaurant!

Last Wednesday evening saw Fordhall Organic Farm in
Market Drayton launch our brand new eatery; 20 years after Arthur Hollins
shut the doors on the Fordhall Farmhouse restaurant, he returned to open the
doors at ‘Arthur’s’ – the new evening restaurant at Fordhall Farm.

The sun shone down on guests as they arrived
for the launch celebration, with the strum of an acoustic guitar in the
background and the chiminea alight, they gathered in the Fordhall Farm
courtyard awaiting the grand opening.

Chris Eldon Lee, our chairman of the board of
trustees of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative (FCLI) welcomed the fifty VIPs
to the event with a heart-warming speech, praising the Fordhall enterprise for
how far we have come from the days of the campaign back in 2005, he said “It’s a momentous
occasion for us all…”

“Arthur's
restaurant embodies the whole philosophy of Fordhall Farm because we can now
serve sustainably produced, locally grown, organic food in a sustainably produced
building; just as Arthur Hollins envisaged. And all the profits will be fed
back into our vital community and educational work"

Chris
went on to introduce our special guest of the evening,
Arthur Hollins, played by local actor, Allan Price. Now that was a surreal moment!

Whilst ‘Arthur’ gave the opening speech and
cut the baler twine to declare the restaurant open, our honoured guests and
local dignitaries toasted with a shot of “yogtail”, one of the many inventions
of the real Arthur Hollins back in the 1960’s. This is a curious mix of yoghurt and alcohol, which was quickly downed in one by our guests.

“They’re alcoholic and good for you; a rare
combination.”

We believe we can claim Arthur’s to be Shropshire’s greenest eatery, with the distance the
produce has travelled measured not in food-miles but food-yards.

Guests were treated to local Wroxeter sparkling
wine, with a selection of canapés, giving them a chance to sample our
restaurant’s menu including: pea and Shropshire Blue risotto, roast Fordhall sirloin
steak with Yorkshire pudding and horseradish cream, lovage polenta cake with
rocket pesto, and strawberry pavlova, just a few of the delights coming out of
the kitchen run by our fantastic chef Barney Richardson. He creates ‘real’ food
with elegance; sourcing all their main ingredients locally or organically - of course.

Bryan and Hannah enjoying the canape's

The
evening was a great success. We were delighted that Allan agreed to play
Arthur for the opening, he had him down to a tee, including the fluffy grey hair.
It was particularly heartening that the name for the restaurant was not chosen
by us but by our customers. And the icing on the cake was Barney’s exquisite
selection of canapé’s, demonstrating the very best of seasonal local food.

An enormous thank you must go to everyone who
made the evening a success.

One of the many accolades of the evening came from the Mayor of Market Drayton, Steve Glover. He
said “I last came to Fordhall Farm five years ago with a young man undergoing
work experience. I can remember their small offices squeezed into portacabins
and the run down buildings. It is wonderful to see what has risen from the
ashes five years later. It can only continue to get better and better.”

Our chef, Barney, with mother of Fordhall, Connie

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the evening, the
food actually tastes! It takes me back to my time in Africa
when everything you ate was fresh from the land around you. There is nothing
better. These are the best canapé's I have ever eaten. I wish the team at
Arthur’s Restaurant the best of luck, I am sure it will be a great success.”

Chris Eldon Lee wrapped up the night’s
festivities “I especially love” he says “the fact that we
can enjoy such fantastic food, knowing that all the profits are going back into
the community – everyone wins.”

We would like to say thank you to everyone who attended and to all the wonderful Fordhall staff, especially Katie and Becca, who worked extremely hard to ensure the evening went smoothly.

Arthur’s Restaurant is open on Friday
evenings from 7pm, booking is essential.

Call 01630 638696 to reserve your table. We can also cater for group functions or private parties - try us out :-)

PLUS Don't forget it our Beer and Music Festival in just over one weeks time - have you got your ticket yet??

3 comments:

Haechin and Richard
said...

We just wanted to write to you and all the staff to say how much we both enjoyed the opening of Arthur's Restaurant on Wednesday. The food, the canape's the drinks, particularly the homemade canape's, which we thoroughly enjoyed, were all delicious. The whole occassion went very well indeed. We are very concious of the amount of work that went into this event and the end result was excellent in all respects.

Dear everyone, what a wonderful time we had on wednesday - superb food and drink in a very very special setting ... a great showcase to illustrate to everyone what Fordhall is all about. A very warm thank you for making it such a delightful experienceElaine and BryanStaffordshire

Fordhall Community land Initiative Website

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About Me

We are young and determined people assisted by over hundreds of volunteers who have come together to ensure this beautiful traditional countryside is saved. We are increasing the rich biodiveristy of the farm and helping to educate people about the pasture to plate cycle. Demonstrating that small-scale farming connected to the local community can offer a viable way of life for generations to come.